Landmark Ruling Awards Pregnant Soccer Player Compensation After Contract Pulled

The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, has issued a ruling that could fundamentally change how professional sports organizations treat pregnant athletes. CAS ordered Italian club Lazio Women to pay Swedish goalkeeper Maja Göthberg more than €70,000 ($79,000) in salary compensation and damages for infringement of her personality rights after the club abandoned contract negotiations upon learning she was pregnant.

The decision, published Wednesday by the global players' union FIFPRO, represents the most significant legal precedent in women's professional sports regarding pregnancy discrimination. It sends a clear message to clubs, federations, and governing bodies worldwide: terminating or withdrawing from a contract because a player is pregnant is not just unethical — it is legally actionable.

The case dates back to 2024, when Göthberg, a Swedish international goalkeeper, was in advanced contract negotiations with Lazio Women. According to court documents, the club had verbally agreed to terms and was preparing a formal contract when Göthberg informed club officials of her pregnancy. Within days, Lazio ceased all communication and withdrew from the negotiations without explanation.

Göthberg, represented by FIFPRO's legal team, filed a complaint with CAS arguing that Lazio's actions constituted unlawful discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. The court agreed, finding that the timing of Lazio's withdrawal — immediately after being informed of the pregnancy — established a clear causal link between the pregnancy and the club's decision to walk away from the deal.

The €70,000 award includes both salary compensation for the contract Göthberg would have received and additional damages for what CAS described as "infringement of her personality rights." The 5% annual interest applied retroactively over the two-year legal battle adds a further penalty dimension, making the total financial consequence for Lazio significantly higher than the headline figure.

FIFPRO, which has been pushing for stronger protections for pregnant players across all football federations, hailed the ruling as a turning point. "This decision establishes a precedent that no club can ignore," said FIFPRO President David Agans in a statement. "Pregnancy should never be a reason to deny a professional athlete her livelihood. Today, sport's highest court has confirmed what we have argued for years: that pregnant players deserve equal protection under the law."

The ruling arrives during a period of rapid growth in women's professional soccer but also persistent inequality. The National Women's Soccer League in the United States implemented pregnancy and parental leave protections in its collective bargaining agreement in 2023, guaranteeing players their full salary and benefits during pregnancy and providing a return-to-play pathway. But in many European leagues, where women's professional contracts remain less regulated and often shorter than their male counterparts, protections are far more inconsistent.

Italy's top women's league, Serie A Femminile, has grown significantly since the Italian Football Federation took over its organization in 2018, but player contracts remain largely at the discretion of individual clubs. Unlike the NWSL or England's Women's Super League, there is no standardized collective bargaining agreement that explicitly protects pregnant players from contract termination or negotiation withdrawal.

The Lazio case exposes a gap that exists across much of European women's football. While FIFA's regulatory framework includes general anti-discrimination provisions, and EU law prohibits pregnancy discrimination in employment, professional football contracts exist in a gray zone where labor law and sports governance intersect — often to the detriment of players. CAS's ruling begins to close that gap by establishing that sports-specific arbitration bodies will enforce the same anti-discrimination standards that apply in conventional employment.

For Göthberg personally, the ruling represents vindication after a two-year battle that took a significant emotional and professional toll. The goalkeeper, who has since resumed her career with a club in Sweden's Damallsvenskan, has spoken publicly about the stress and uncertainty of being without a contract during her pregnancy while fighting a legal case against a major Italian organization.

The broader implications extend well beyond soccer. Athletes in professional basketball, tennis, track and field, and other sports have faced similar challenges when navigating pregnancy alongside their careers. The precedent set by CAS — that pregnancy discrimination in sports contracts is legally actionable and carries financial consequences — will likely be cited in future cases across multiple sports and jurisdictions.

Several organizations are already calling for formal policy changes. The International Olympic Committee has issued non-binding guidelines recommending that athletes not face contract consequences due to pregnancy, but these lack enforcement mechanisms. FIFPRO is now pushing for FIFA to adopt mandatory pregnancy protection provisions in its standard player contract templates, which would apply to all federations under FIFA's governance.

The economics of women's sports make this issue particularly acute. Professional female athletes already earn a fraction of what their male counterparts make, and the loss of even a single contract — particularly during what should be one of the most significant periods of a person's life — can devastate a career. Göthberg's case demonstrates how a club's discriminatory decision compounds: she lost not just a salary but playing time, visibility, and career momentum that cannot easily be recovered.

For Lazio, the ruling is both a financial penalty and a reputational blow. The club, which has invested in growing its women's team in recent years, now faces the uncomfortable distinction of being the organization that prompted sport's highest court to establish pregnancy discrimination protections. Whether other clubs interpret the ruling as a deterrent or simply a cost of doing business will depend on how seriously federations enforce it.

What This Means For You: If you follow women's sports, this ruling is a watershed moment. It establishes that pregnancy discrimination in professional athletics has real legal consequences — not just abstract moral ones. For athletes, it means there is now a precedent to fight back. For clubs, it means the cost of discrimination just went up. And for fans, it's worth asking your favorite team and league what their pregnancy policies actually are. The gap between what's written in a CBA and what happens in a contract negotiation is where athletes like Göthberg get left behind. This ruling helps close that gap, but only sustained pressure from players, unions, and fans will keep it closed.